Automatic control for elevator gates



March 18 1924. 1

D. M. HENDRICKS AUTOMATIC CONTROL FOR ELEVATOR GATES' Filed Dec.

6 1921 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 March 18 1924 1,486,891

D.- M. HENDRICKS AUTOMATIC CONTROL FOR ELEVATOR GATES Filed Dec. 6, 1921 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Inventor Fate'nted Mar. 13, 1924.

DAVIDM. HENDRICKS, OF NEWTON, IQVVA.

AUTOMATIC contract non Ennvarcn earns.

Application filed December State of Iowa, have invented a certain new and useful Automatic Control for Elevator Gates, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to provide a device of simple, durable and inexpensive construction which may be applied to elevators designed to operate between a series of floors in a building for the purpose of successively opening and closing gates, lo-

cated'on each floor and in communication with said elevator, as the said elevator is moved upwardly or downwardly past the said gates.

A further object is to provide in conneotion with an elevator which operates be,- tween a number of floors of a building, improved gate devices which may be succes-- sively opened and'closed as-the said elevator is operated.

A further object is to provide an im-v proved gate construction for elevators designed to be automatically operated thereby.

These and other objects will be apparent to those skilled'in the art. 7 1 7 My invention consists in the construction, arrangement and combination of the vari ous parts of the device, whereby the'objects contemplated are attained, as hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in my claims, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a plan elevation of my improved elevator gate arrangement as viewed from the inside of the elevator shaft showing one gate opened and another one closed.

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 22 ofFigure 1.

Figure 3 is a detail sectional view taken on the line 83 of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a detail side elevation of my improved controlling and trip device.-

Figure 5 is a sectional view taken on the line 55 of Figure 4, also showing in detail a portion of the elevator shaft and the mannor in which the trip member is mounted relative to the controlling device. r

In Figure 1 of the drawings I have shown a; fragment of the elevator shaft which is indicated by the numeral 10; The elevator shaft is shown extending through floors 11 of a building. Above each of the 6, 1921. Serial No. 520,440.

floors 11 is a door opening 12. This door opening is of a height equal to substan tially two-thirds of the space between the said floors, and of a width substantially equal to the width of the elevator.

Adjacent to each of the sides of the door openings 12 and inside of the elevator shaft,

7 T have provided a channel member 13 having their channel portions extending toward each other, as clearly shown in Figures 1 and 3. These channels are designed to have slidably mounted in them, gate members14.

The gate for each floor is built of two sections, each of'which is of a height equal to one-half of the height of the door opening, both of said gate 'members being mounted in the same channel and one of them adapted to move upwardly while the other one moves downwardly.

' For producing this operation simultaneously, I have provided a shaft 15 rotatively mounted in bearings 16, said bearings being located on the channels 13 at a point a slight distance above the door openings and on the inside of the said doors.

The outer end of each'of the shafts 15 is-provided with a small sprocket wheel 17, each of said sprockets being designed to carry a chain 18 a The outer and upper end of each of the chains 18 is provided with a bar 19 which is secured to the lower edge of the upper gate 14, as clearly shown in Figures 1 and 3. The inner and lower end of each of the chains 18 is provided with a bar 20 which is attached to the upper edge of the lower gate 14, the member 20 being bent inwardly so as to permit the inner chain to operate past the outer chain as clearly shown in Figure 3.

By this arrangement, it will be seen that if the upper gate'is made slightly heavier than the lower gate, that the said upper gate will be moved downwardly, while the lower gate will be pulled upwardly until they meet at a point substantially midway between the bottom and the top of the opening 12, as indicated by the lower gates in Figure 1.

By providing the shaft 15 with the chains 18 at each end, I' have provided means whereby the gates may be moved to or from each other and always held in a horizontal position and parallel to each other. This permits the gates to slide freely in the channel members 13.

7 ends, and is mounted and operated in the usual manner. 7

For opening and closing the gates 14, I have provided the following mechanism:

Secured to each corner of the edge of the platform 23 adjacent to the gates, I have provided casing members which are held in position by means of braces 26. A similar casing is provided at each end of the front edge of the top member 24 in a reverse position from that mounted on the bottom member 23, and secured in position by a brace similar to the brace 26. The mecha nism within these casings is the same, and for that reason but one of them will be described.

Referring to'Figures 4 and 5, the casings 25 are provided with back members 27 and a top 28, one end of the sides being beveled at 29.

Mounted upon the back 28, I have provided a strap iron track 30 secured in posisition by means of bolts 31. This track 30 is provided near its lower end with an outwardly extending portion 32, the outer end of which is turned upward at 33, the said portion 33 being parallel with the back 27.

The upper end of the portion 33 is provided with an inwardly extendingportion 34. This curved portion 34 assumes sub stantially the shape of reverse segments of a circle, as clearly shown in Figure 5.

Slidably mounted on the member .33, I

have provided what I shall term a trip oarriage. This carriage comprises side members 35 which are spaced apart by means of pins 36 and 37, the side members 35 being mounted adjacent to the edges of the track 33, and the pin 36 adjacent to the inner face of said track, and the pin 37 adjacent to the outer face of said track.

Mounted between the plates 35 and adjacent to the inner face of the member 33, I have provided a roller 38 mounted by means of a pin 39. I have provided a similar roller 40 adjacent to the outer face of said track, and at a point slightly above the roller 38, as clearly shown in Figure 5. Pivotally mounted to a pin 41, mounted between the rollers 40 and the pin 37, is a plate or trip member 42. This trip plate extends outwardly beyond the edge of the members 25 a slight distance, and is limited against upward movement by means of a pin 43. The plate 42'is yieldingly held against said pin by means of a spring 44.

Each of the members 35 is provided at its lower end with a spring 45, the lower ends of said springs being connected to a cross bar 46 attached to the lower end of the plate 30. These springs yieldingly hold the carriage at its lower limit of movement against the bumper member 47. This member is slidably mounted in a bearing 48 and provided with a spring 49 for holding said bumper member 47 at its upper limit of movement, the upward movement of said member being limited by means of a nut 50 secured to the lower end of the bumper.

Referring to Figure 1, each of the bars 19 is provided at its inner end with an inwardly extending pin 51, and eachof the bars 20 is provided with a similar inwardly extending pin 52, the pins 51 being set closer together than the pins 52, as clearly shown in the lower gate of Figure 1.

The gate operating mechanism as just described and mounted in the casing 25 of the floor member 23, are so mounted on the said floor 23 that the members 42 will be in alinement with the'pins 52, andwill be engaged thereby as the elevator is moved past said pins. The member 42 of the mechanism applied to the top 24 is in alinement with the pins 51, and designed to engage said pins as the elevator is operated, the mechanism within the top casing 25 being placed in an inverted position from that shown in Figure 5 when applied to the floor 24.

By this arrangement, it will be seen that if the elevator is in the position shown in Figure 2, and is being'moved downwardly, the lower members 42 are in engagement with the pins 52 and a plate 53 on theupper edge of the lower door has engaged the floor member. This will limit the downward movement of said gate and the trip carriage will travel upwardly on the member'33 and will follow around the curved portion 34, as shown in dotted lines in Figure 5, against the action of the springs 45. This will cause the members 42 to disengage the pins 52, after which the weight of the upper gate will cause the gates to be closed. The lower member 42 will assume its normal position as shown in Figure 5, and will engage the pins 52 of the next gate below. This will cause the lower gate to be pulled downwardly and the upper gate to be moved upwardly by the chains '18, until the said lower member 42 has been moved past the pin 52, as before described. The said gates 'Will be opened just as the fioor of the elevator is in alinement with the floor of the building. When the elevator is moved upwardly, the upper members 42 will engage the pins 51 and lift the upper gates. The lower gates will be permitted to move downwardly due to their weight into the space above the upper door opening and the floor above.

The upward movement of the upper gate is limited by the plate 53 engaging the floor, before described. The upper member 42 will disengage the pin 51 in the manner similar to that which the lower member 42 disen 'ages the pin v52. The lower member 4-2 will engage the pins 52 as the elevator is being elevated, but are free to slide past said pins, as shown in dotted lines in Fig ure 5, against the action of the spring 44.

By this arrangement, it will be seen that the springs are so arranged that they will move the doors to an open position when the members 42 engage the proper operating pins from the gates, the tension of the said springs d5 being such that the carriage will be permitted to move a slight distance. It the gates should bind slightly, the length of the track 33 should be such that the carriage will be permitted to move still further along the track, and thereby increase the tension on the springs without being moved to a trip position on said track.

The track, however, is of such a length that it will-always move the gates against any reasonable resistance, and will not trip until after the stop plate of the lower gate member has engaged the floor. The spring will then yield farther, thereby permitting the elevator floor to be moved above the level of the main floor a slight distance before the carriage is moved to its trip position so that the elevator operator does not have to be absolutely accurate about lining the elevator floor with the main floor of the building.

By making the carriage slidable along the said track, I have provided means where comparatively light springs may be used to operate the gates, and at the same time be positive in their action.

Thus it will be seen that I have provided mechanism which may be applied to elevators in such a manner that the gates may be automatically opened and closed as the elevator is moved past the said gates, and will assume an opened position when the elevator floor is in line with the main floor, and as soon as the elevator has been moved above or below said floor, the gates will at once close.

I claim as my invention:

1. A trip mechanism for operating elevator gates comprising a support, a track mounted on said support, a trip carriage slidably mounted on said track, yieldable members for moving saidcarriage to one end of said track, a trip plate pivotally mounted in said carriage, means for limiting the movement of said plate in one direction, said trip plate being adapted to move the carriage longitudinally with said track by being engaged by a coacting pin, the said track being so arranged that the carriage will be moved to an angle when it reaches a certain predetermined position on said track to release the trip plate from said pin.

2. An elevator gate actuating device comprising a support, a track on said support having one end provided with a curved portion, a carriage on said track, springs for yieldingly holding said carriage from the curved end of said track, a trip device carried by said carriage adapted to yieldingly move in one direction, and means for limiting the movement or" said trip device in the opposite direction, said trip device being designed to be operated by a coacting pin and to move said carriage to-the curved portion of said track to release said coacting pin, a bumper for absorbing the shock of said carriage when it is returned to its normal position of movement.

Des Moines, Iowa, May 25, 1921.

DAVID M. HENDRICKS. 

